Official Raw/Smackdown Aftermath, Ratings and Review Thread

[martymcfly]

I'm a little surprised that no one mentioned it, but I thought that one of the best parts of the night was right at the end, when barrett was going on about how he will be the next wwe champion and will have his hand raised in victory. As he was doing that, otunga (who was facing the camera but not facing barrett) has a very obvious and exaggerated eye roll that looked absolutely hilarious. If you missed it, check it out.

Now I'm not a big otunga fan, but that bit really did make me laugh.

 

[klunderbunker]

Smackdown
Date: October 22, 2010
Location: Rexall Place, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Commentators: Matt Striker, Todd Grisham, Michael Cole

It’s the go home show for Bragging Rights and apparently Raw is here tonight. The main event is Orton vs. Kane which is something that has always sounded intriguing to me for some reason. This should be decent like Raw was. I don’t get the criticisms that show has gotten but that’s a different story. Let’s get to it.

Theme song opens us up. Still has nothing on Let It Roll.

We open the show with the Bragging Rights teams in the ring in a showdown. Wait…no Cole??? Also thankfully, Teddy says it’s elimination on Sunday. That’s a very big upgrade as one fall is just a big mess. Tonight the Raw guys get to pick the matches.

Miz makes himself/Sheamus/Jackson vs. Show/Kofi/Rey. Despite the Raw guys making the matches, Edge challenges Punk. Oh hell yes. Morrison picks Del Rio. In a funny line he said he “wanted someone with a hard time speaking the English language. No not you Swagger.” Speaking of Swagger he gets Santino. Ok maybe he has dropped a bit in value lately. The six man is right now!

The Miz/Sheamus/Ezekiel Jackson vs. Big Show/Kofi Kingston/Rey Mysterio

Damn it Cole is here but just hadn’t talked yet. I like the elimination stipulation added to Sunday but I do wonder why we don’t do it at Survivor Series which is the whole point of the show, or at least it used to be. Sheamus and Rey start us off. Kofi has red tights and boots. Could this be a hint at something? Apparently Kofi is good at fantasy football. Rey takes out Sheamus as we take a break.

We come back to Jackson vs. Kofi with Kofi springboarding into a clothesline. Jackson was the captain’s pick apparently. Kofi gets beaten down for a bit as it occurs to me that it’s been awhile since we’ve had a six man.

Show finally comes in, prompting Striker to shout AVENGERS ASSEMBLE and THIS IS SECRET INVASION Smackdown style! Cole: WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? That was funny. Show cleans house and a chokeslam plus an elevated splash from Rey to Miz ends it.

Rating: C+. This did exactly what the match was supposed to do: it gave us a preview for Sunday and worked pretty well I thought. It wasn’t a classic or anything but it wasn’t supposed to be. Team Smackdown looked great here and everything worked well. Solid opener and a pretty good TV match.

Recap of the Raw World Title picture.

Ziggler cuts a promo about how Bryan is minor league compared to him.

Jack Swagger vs. Santino Marella

I love that eagle. It’s so stupid that it’s awesome. Santino prances at Swagger and we’ve got a comedy match. The eagle goes at Santino after he’s knocked to the floor and here comes Horny. It should be noted that the eagle is played by one Chavo Guerrero, meaning it’s Chavo vs. Horny all over again. Is there a reason why Horny is dressed as a Viking? Well the show on Sunday is in Minnesota so that might be it.

Santino hits the eagle with the Cobra and Horny adds a tadpole splash to double team the eagle. Cole: a Leprechaun just jumped on an eagle! Swagger gets beaten up a bit but he loads up the Cobra again and walks into the ankle lock for the easy tap out.

Rating: N/A. This was about 80% comedy but at least the ending was the right one. I can live with stupid comedy as long as the ending isn’t comedy.

Cody shows us how to take care of chapped lips, including lip gloss if you’re alone. Is it bad that I put that song on my Ipod?

Alberto Del Rio vs. John Morrison

It’s a Mercedes for Alberto this week. Cole talks about the Sheamus/Morrison match from a few weeks ago which was indeed awesome. They try to say Orton vs. Kane is a huge match which is true to a degree but not as big as they say it is here. This is a solid match so far with a nice dynamic of Alberto’s classic training vs. Morrison’s more off the wall style.

We go back and forth for a good bit with Alberto getting a nice German for two. We head to the corner and Alberto goes down. Starship Pain is missed and he doesn’t rotate enough but he hurts his arm doing it. The spinning twisting turning rotating setup for the basic armbreaker ends it.

Rating: C+. How in the world was this five minutes? This felt like it lasted all of 2 which to me is a good thing. The match flew by and was decent from what I saw. They also mentioned that this was a carryover from the battle royal Monday where they eliminated each other. That’s a nice bit of continuity there which is always fun.

Edge vs. CM Punk

Little feeling out process to start. Striker says these two are arguably some of the most decorated superstars in recent memory. Isn’t the number of titles someone has won not arguable? You’ve either won a lot of titles of you haven’t. It’s not that hard.

Cole messes up the name of Josh Hamilton who is a member of the Texas Rangers baseball team. They had a ginger ale shower for him in the locker room because he doesn’t drink. Cole leaves out the whole he’s a recovering alcoholic thing but whatever. Not a lot going on here so I need tangents to fill in space.

This is a slower paced match than you would expect with Punk playing to the crowd rather well. He controls a bit here but Edge gets a swinging neckbreaker to get us back to even. We take a break with Edge on the floor and come back with Edge in a body vice. They slug it out and Edge hits a bulldog kind of move for two.

This is starting to get good now. Edgecution gets two. The Canadian goes up top but gets caught by Punk. After a brief sequence up there, Punk gets knocked to the mat and Edge gets all googly eyed. The fans get into him just raising his eyes and setting for the spear so I can’t really argue against it. Riley and Miz come down for the save of course and it’s a DQ.

Rating: C+. This got much better in the second half of the match. The first part was kind of just treading water but eventually they kind of dropped the formula and cranked it up and just went at it. This would have been very fun on PPV in about a fifteen minute match which is why I’m glad there wasn’t a definitive ending.

Everyone comes out for the parade of finishers/big moves which is fun here. Thankfully Santino gets nothing as Swagger powerbombs the hell out of him. Sheamus and Big Zeke take out Show and then here’s Rey to take down Sheamus. It ends with Edge spearing Punk which is a nice ending as that’s what started all this. It sounds really generic but this was fun and set the tone for the whole elimination thing coming up on Sunday.

After a break here are Laycool dressed as Natalya (Layla, complete with a beard) and Bret (Michelle). Michelle’s talking all slow and with zero emotion is kind of funny. Here comes Natalya as this was really kind of pointless.

Natalya/Kelly Kelly vs. Laycool

It’s Natalya vs. Layla on Sunday and they start us out here. The heels are in their costumes here as this really is pretty stupid. I guess the idea is to get on Natalya and the Canadian crowd but at the same time this isn’t working. Natalya wins in like a minute with the Sharpshooter. Kelly never came in.

Rating: F. I have absolutely no clue who thought this a good idea but it didn’t work at all and was easily the worst match and segment of the night.

I watch these shows online Friday afternoons as it helps a lot with being able to do the reviews since I don’t have to go crazy trying to keep up with them. I noticed something today. The show I watch is from Italy I believe and today I noticed the show was about six minutes shorter than usual. From what I can find, at this point there was the Stand Up For WWE video.

This did not air in the international broadcast nor was it mentioned at all. Clearly this is simply a production error because remember there is ZERO connection between the AMERICAN Senate race and Stand Up For WWE. Nope not a bit. This is clearly just a mistake by the editors of the show. Nothing more than that.

After a brief video about Kane it’s main event time.

Kane vs. Randy Orton

Kane dominates early but Randy hits the backbreaker and we hit the floor as Kane hides from the RKO. Orton is down on the outside as we take a break. Bearhug from the bald one as we come back. They keep trying to talk about how awesome this match is. I missed this last week but the lightning Taker fired hit the urn and damaged it. Striker: “On Sunday we may learn what the lightning symbolizes.” Apparently we’re getting a science lesson Sunday.

Very slow and basic match so far with Kane working the back and dominating for the vast majority. Back to the bearhug now. Any match with a pair of those is going to have difficulties in being good. Top rope clothesline gets two. Here’s the comeback and the elevated DDT has Kane in trouble.

Orton does his weird dance or whatever you want to call it to set up the RKO. And then Kane kicks his head off. Chokeslam is set up for but there go the lights. We get a gong strike and the fans pop BIG. Back on we see Orton behind Kane and the RKO ends clean. Well as clean as you can get with the lights going out.

Rating: C. This was about what you would expect in a match like this two days prior to a PPV. Having a winner and loser here is fine as it’s not like they’re losing to a jobber or something. Kane got to dominate and the fans end the show on a happy note. The match was ok so all in all this was perfectly fine.

Kane freaks out and yells a lot. The gong goes off and the blue lights (K-Mart joke goes here) come on. Taker’s hand pops through the mat which looks like a rat or something, and there’s Taker, pulling Kane through the ring and screaming by the world champion ends the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This was down a bit for my tastes but at the same time there was definitely a point to it. They’re pushing Smackdown hard here which makes me think Smackdown loses on Sunday but maybe I’m wrong. There was a theme going on all night and thankfully Taker popped up at the end to at least make a live appearance. This worked ok I thought but it wasn’t the best show in the world at all.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

WWE Friday Night SmackDown! - October 22, 2010

Opening Segment - The show started off tonight with all the members of Team Raw and Team SmackDown! In the ring. Teddy Long is there and says he’s going to allow the members of the opposing teams to decide the night’s matches. Miz makes a six man tag featuring himself paired with Shamus & Ezekiel Jackson and Big Show accepts and picks Kofi Kingston & Rey Mysterio for his team. Edge is up next and picks a match with CM Punk, John Morrison picks Alberto Del Rio and Jack Swagger picks Santino Marella. It was a solid opening to the show and set the stage for tonight’s episode as the final push towards the Bragging Rights ppv. Thumbs Up

Big Show, Rey Mysterio & Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz, Shamus & Ezekiel Jackson - This was a fun match with a lot of energy to kick things off. I’m glad they decided to do this match immediately as there are a few others I’m more interested in. Nothing overly special about the match but all the wrestlers involved were given a chance to get some action in and everyone was generally able to look good. The crowd was into the match and it had a nice feel to it. Team SmackDown! gets the win here around the 9 minute mark with Big Show chokeslamming Miz before letting Rey jump off his shoulders for a splash to get the win. I’m surprised that Miz took the fall, I figured it’d be Zeke since he hasn’t been here. Nothing spectacular, but a solid fun little match that did its job by giving a bit of a preview for the elimination tag match at the Bragging Rights ppv. Thumbs Up

Dolph Ziggler - Ziggler cut a short promo backstage with Josh Matthews and I thought he did a good job with what he was given. He seemed arrogant and confident and comparing Daniel Bryan to a high school football team and himself to a Super Bowl championship team worked for me as Daniel Bryan’s character is an “average” guy. This wasn’t some earthshaking, groundbreaking promo or anything, but Ziggler was solid and it’s nice that he’s gotten a little mic time this week. Thumbs Up

Jack Swagger vs. Santino Marella - All the stuff with the Swagger Soaring Eagle & Hornswoggle took attention away from this match, not that there was much of a match. It wasn’t terrible, but with Hornswoggle & Santino involved, I knew it wouldn’t be much. Still, I’m soooooo glad to see Jack Swagger get the win over Santino here with the ankle lock at the 3 minute mark. My butt puckered up just a bit at this match as I thought they might be feeding Swagger to Santino as they did not long before he was World Heavyweight Champion. Thumbs Down

John Morrison vs. Alberto Del Rio - Good 5 minute match between Morrison & Del Rio. It was a good back and forth match with both guys basically staying in control roughly equal time and getting in an equal amount of offense. I’d like to see these two get 15 minutes sometime in the future. Del Rio gets the win via the armbar submission, but Morrison puts up a good match. I would have liked the match to have gone on a little longer as this really just kind of whetted my appetite to see more from these two. Thumbs Up

Edge vs. CM Punk - This was a damn good match with these two. Lots of great back and forth action and near falls. Edge really seems to be rejuvenated since coming to SmackDown!. He’s just got more spring in his step to me. The match started off a little slow but it picked up very nicely quickly with some fun offense. Both wrestlers looked really strong against each other and, as with Morrison/Del Rio, it seemed like it could go either way at anytime. The ending came with Punk getting DQ’d as Edge is preparing for a spear due to The Miz & Alex Riley coming out. Allt he members of Team Raw & SmackDown! hit the ring with a round of rapid fire finishers all around. Tyler Reks used that awesome finishing move of his on The Miz. The segment ends with Edge hitting Punk with the spear and all the members of Team SmackDown! posing in the ring. No winner for this match, but I enjoyed the hell out of it. Edge & Punk is another program I’d love to see and is another reason I’m hoping the WWE ultimately does away with the separate brand format in the near future. Thumbs Up

Team LayCool vs. Natalya & Kelly Kelly - Before the match, LayCool’s in the ring dressed as Jim Neidhart and Bret Hart. They mock them for a few minutes and, honestly, it wasn’t bad. It wasn’t great either, but LayCool simply wasn’t annoying here. The match was little more than a throwaway. I don’t know why the frig Kelly Kelly was out there as she didn’t even get any ring time, though she did look scrumdiddlyumptious. Natalya gets the win at the 2.5 minute mark via the Sharpshooter on Layla. This wasn’t really bad, but it didn’t add anything to the show nor make me interested in seeing a Divas match at the ppv. Thumbs Down

Randy Orton vs. Kane - I thought this was a pretty good main event to close the show with. I do think the announcers were hyping it a bit too much with all this dream match stuff they were talking about, but it was still a pretty good match just the same. Kane looked dominant in the match against Orton and, quite frankly, I’m glad they decided to go that route. When the show debuted on Syfy, Raw stars like Randy Orton were on the show and made the SD! guys look like chumps. Vince wants to show people that SmackDown! is as good as Raw, wants more emphasis to be placed on the show than its had in years, so I liked this. On Raw, Orton has been sort of portrayed as this Superman sort of character to some degree for a while so it was nice, in my view, for Orton to seem a little vulnerable. Orton does manage to get the win about the 12 minute mark via the RKO after the lights go off and Taker’s bell tolls. Taker dragging Kane down under the ring was a nice little old school Taker touch. The match wasn’t an all time classic, but it was pretty solid I thought. Thumbs Up

Overall Show - I enjoyed the show a lot tonight and I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I really had any genuine interest in the Bragging Rights concept. I think they did a good job tonight of a final push towards the show and, with SmackDown! being featured so prominently against Raw, I figure Raw will win. However, with more emphasis being placed on SmackDown! than the show has had in a long time, it might be 2-0 for big blue. Lots of wrestling on the show tonight and most of the matches were at least quite solid. The stuff with Santino & Hornswoggle and the Diva segment were the low point of the show. The comedy took away from the Swagger/Santino match and all, but at least it had the right ending with Swagger winning decisively. I liked tonight’s show, I was entertained but I’m just not really all that interested in Bragging Rights, which does sort of hurt the overall theme of tonight’s show. Still, it was a good show if nothing else.

Grade: B

 

[TJ Matics]

Gold Stars for Friday Night Smackdown! October 22, 2010

1.Lay-Cool vs. K2& Natalya
-I don't understand the poor reviews for this segment/Match,
I'm no Lay-Cool mark,
But the beginning segment was the most hilarious moment of the night,
Complete w/ McCool’s mocking of Uncle Bret’s dance.
The match was decent, though K2 was just there to look pretty

2.Opening Segment
-I was half watching half on the computer when the show started,
Mainly because the new entrance music doesn't belong on any WWE programming,
But when I saw the red shirts,
My attention was caught.
Though I was a little upset Punk had no MIC time on his return to the B-Show,
Morrison sounding good on the MIC made it allll better

3.Dashing Tips
-Cody gave a sense of a normal flow back to this week’s show,
And the Lip Gloss bit was Awesome

BTW
Everyone wearing their shirts in the ring had a weird feeling to it,
I get the point, but it still made everything look a little stiff to me

 

[Sandman18]

The Bryan/Ziggler match was impressive again and I hope with Punk doing commentary they will do a fued which would be great matches. Lay-Cool is forgettable as many of the divas are. No Natalya? Why cant they even let Gail Kim compete as they are dropping the ball there. Having Sheamus lose to Santino is disgusting but maybe Sheamus will attack Morrison for him costing him the match. The Nexus angle is going forward and I love the swiching of the tag titles to Gabriel/Slater as they should have good matches, if there is any1 to fued with. Cena as the referee was expected so I guess he will have to cost Orton the title?? I hope they write this correctly and something suprising happens. I feel again Orton is lost in the shuffle as WWE Champ. I remember whenthe title would be the focus of a show but it hasnt been since Randy became champion. Overall, I hope we can see some good fueds develop soon as RAW needs it

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

RAW Opener

I enjoy the mystery behind why Nexus attacked Taker. Too much is revealed too soon in wrestling today, and building anticipation is never a bad thing. Good mic work from Barrett and Cena as well.

Cena/Otunga vs. Gabriel/Slater

I'm never a fan of someone lying down, so that didn't sit well. I understand why it happened, but I still don't like it. However, I am glad to see the tag titles on somewhat of a "real" tag team again. Hopefully Slater and Gabriel can have an actual feud, with an actual tag team, heading into Survivor Series.

Dolph Ziggler/Daniel Bryan

Entertaining match, definitely above average for Raw. I hope this leads to a CM Punk/Daniel Bryan feud, which is the most likely scenario. I think there's a small (and I mean small) chance this could lead to a merger of the US/IC title..but once again, probably not. I want to see more from these two, good match.

Women's Match

Total waste of time. LayCool is beyond annoying, but then again, have I ever cared about women's wrestling? Not really, so nothing worth complaining about.

Miz w/ Riley vs. R-Truth

Am I the only one who thinks Alex Riley is about twice as talented as The Miz? He's much better in the ring, and a bit more entertaining on the mic. This kid has a bright future.

Truth rapped again..that's gotten really old, really quick (totally subjective, I know). Solid match, for Raw. Neither one of these guys really do anything for me, but not terrible either. Is this The Miz's next feud? I hope so, as long as it keeps him away from the WWE title picture.

Sheamus vs. Santino

I think this is obviously setting up a Morrison/Sheamus feud, so it was alright. I find Santino to be rathe entertaining, and when actually given the opportunity, a good in-ring competitor. Is this the start of a push for Santino? Probably not, but it should be. Also, Sheamus didn't look weak in defeat, so no one should whine about it.

Cena vs. Orton

Not a huge Cena fan, but these guys usually work well together. Good contrast of styles. Yes, it's the 453rd time we've seen it, but that doesn't bother me. Solid match.

Sets up an interesting concept at Survivor Series. I have no clue what's going to happen at the PPV, but I hope the weeks leading up to it actually involve the champion this time. With this "bigger picture" scenario coming into play, Nexus is still interesting, and here to stay for a while longer.

Overall- I give it a B. Good matches, better than usual. It also set up some good looking storylines, so I would say it was above average.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

WWE Monday Night Raw - October 25, 2010

Opening Segment - I’m a little mixed on the opening of Raw tonight. Barrett was solid on the mic as usual and the overall tension between him & Cena is still high. I’m not really a fan of using titles the way they were used tonight. I didn’t like it last night, however, I do understand why this happened tonight. I think the idea of Wade Barrett being able to take something away from Cena, like a WWE title, was interesting and the general symbolism of the act in and of itself was delicious. Now, of course, many will say the tag titles don’t mean anything and while I pretty much have to agree at this point, this worked as part of the storyline. Cena coming off as outraged when Otunga was told to lie down while Slater pinned him worked very well to push tensions between Cena & Barrett higher. There were a few times during the first 15 minutes that I wasn’t exactly sure what was going on. The whole situation with the tag titles had a few awkward moments, I don’t think it went as smoothly as the WWE would have liked, but I do like that Slater & Gabriel are going to be given a shot with the titles. After so many false starts with them, I’m not holding my breath for greatness here. Still, the idea was to generate even more tension between Cena & Barrett and that’s what happened here. I’m also curious to know why Nexus attacked Taker at the ppv and I’m glad that they didn’t let us know that, keeps a bit of mystery going. I’m hoping that it actually turns out to be something to it and not the WWE just not mentioning it anymore and just letting it fade away. Thumbs Up

Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler - Another great match from these two. They worked a fantastic match at the ppv last night and while this one wasn’t quite as good, it was still a very damn entertaining match. Bryan showed off some impressive moves and resilience as did Ziggler and the crowd was hot for this match. I was so happy when CM Punk’s music hit because I just knew that tonight was the very first steps toward a Punk/Bryan feud. Punk was good on commentary and he put both Ziggler & Bryan over well. It was a great competitive match with Bryan getting the win at the 11 minute mark. Even though Ziggler lost tonight and last night, though last night’s loss wasn’t 100% clear when you look at the circumstances, he looked very strong in defeat. Both continue to impress me and I think the Bryan/Punk feud that looks to be coming should be great. Thumbs Up

John Cena & Nexus - I thought this backstage segment came off well and it pretty much verified what I figure: Barrett had Otunga lay down for the purpose of taking something “meaningful” away from John Cena. Of course, in Barrett’s mind, Cena cost him the WWE Championship last night so he did something similar. Cena nearly quitting right then and there had the crowd cheering but Barrett makes him an offer and convinces Cena to stay and face Randy Orton. Tonight’s stuff with Cena & The Nexus has a bit of a theme going in which not everything is being fully revealed in any of the segments and you’re going to have to watch it all to find out what’s what by the end of the show. Thumbs Up

LayCool vs. Gail Kim & Melina - Nothing more than your typical Diva shit on Raw. It’s a shame because there are four women in this match that are actually pretty good in the ring and we get a 60 second turd. Thumbs Down

The Miz, Alex Riley, Eve Torres & R-Truth - The Miz came out with Riley and cut a solid promo, basically running down Team Raw for losing at Bragging Rights with Cole playing cheerleader at commentary. Eve came down and interrupted, which was a little surprising, but she looked hot. Eve got on the stick and actually did pretty good, believe it or not. Calling The Miz ugly seemed a little juvenile, but most of the other insults are generally stuff I’ve heard some haters say about The Miz. Both Riley & Miz respond to Eve very condescendingly, which was the right way to play this and I’m glad Miz didn’t react like some geeky schoolboy that got rejected when he asked the prettiest girl in school for a hand job. R-Truth came out, man I really hate his entrance and his singing and music in general. He did his “What’s Up?” thing and challenged Miz to a match. Nothing spectacular about this, but it was a solid segment to set up this match. Thumbs Up

The Miz vs. R-Truth - I thought this was a fun and competitive match between these two. They’ve worked good matches against each other before and this one was no different. I’m hoping this is the last we’ll see of these two against each other, however. Both Truth & Miz worked a really good match and, to be perfectly honest, I didn’t really know who was going to win so that kept me interested. I just had a feeling that this could be one of those times in which a hot star like Miz, for whatever reason, loses to someone generally lower on the totem pole. The Miz gets the win via the SCF at the 10 minute mark. I’m not all that crazy about R-Truth’s gimmick, but the man can wrestle and both he and Miz looked good tonight. Thumbs Up

Sheamus vs. Santino Marella - Santino wins this match as a fluke and due to a little outside interference from John Morrison. I’m hoping that this is basically a prelude to a feud with Morrison & Sheamus. They had a great last man standing match on Raw a while back and I think they could have a great feud. I completely understand if anyone hated this, I mean Santino did technically get the win here. However, I’m hoping that what happened here tonight will lead to something legit with Morrison & Sheamus. I think it’s safe to say that Sheamus would have won that match had it not been for Morrison. Even though I hate the thought of Sheamus losing to Santino, I’m intrigued by all this and am curious to see what Sheamus does next week. Thumbs Up

Randy Orton vs. John Cena - Great back and forth main event between Cena & Orton. I know it seems like we’ve seen them wrestle a hundred times, but they almost always have great matches together. They have good chemistry together and the winner of the match gets to pick the special ref between Orton vs. Barrett at Survivor Series. The tension with Barrett & Cena was great and was on hand in this match as Cena gets in Barrett’s face whenever Barrett tries to cheat for him and said he was doing this his way. I thought it was perfect because Cena is basically the ultimate good guy and the ultimate good guy doesn’t cheat. Barrett pulls Cena out at roughly the 15.5 minute mark and hits him with a clothesline as Randy Orton is in the corner setting up a punt of Cena’s head. The ref calls for the bell and Cena wins via DQ as Barrett attacked him. I loved the ending as it just meshed in so well with the differences in Cena & Barrett’s character and was another example of Barrett taking something away from Cena. Cena wanted to fight Orton man to man, no interference, because that’s “his way” and Barrett robbed him of that in order to benefit from it himself. It also fits in with the ending to Barrett/Orton at Bragging Rights with Cena interpreting Barrett’s wishes in his own way, the technicality that Lawler & Cole talked about. Barrett named Cena the special referee for the match at Survivor Series, no surprise there, but told Cena that if Barrett wins then he’ll let him out of Nexus. Cena showed a lot of emotion and it’s delivered a nice hook for the Survivor Series title match. Thumbs Up

Overall Show - I thought Raw was quite strong tonight now that all the Bragging Rights stuff is behind us. There were three great matches on the show tonight and we saw what looks to be the beginning of a feud between CM Punk & Daniel Bryan that should be great. I’m not wild about Sheamus losing to Santino, but I’m hoping this will lead to a fun program with Morrison as they’d have some great matches. Toby Keith didn’t annoy me as I thought he would, I thought he did well with his laid back country boy delivery and he wasn’t shoved down our throats. I dread next week with Pee Wee Herman, but that’s next week. I very much like where The Nexus/Cena storyline is heading and there’s a great hook for the WWE Championship match at Survivor Series. I’m mixed on what they did with the tag titles tonight, but I do like how it fit nicely into the angle with Barrett having almost complete control over Cena.

Grade:B+

 

[klunderbunker]

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 25, 2010
Location: Resch Center, Green Bay, Wisconsin
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler
Guest Star: Toby Keith

It’s the night after Bragging Rights and for once we’re FOUR WHOLE WEEKS away from Survivor Series which blows my mind. This will probably start setting up some stuff for that show and have Barrett vs. Cena for a lot of the show as well. This should be interesting as they kind of have to reset things now. Let’s get to it.

We open with Nexus and Cena heading to the ring. Barrett introduces everyone and we see stills of Nexus burying Taker. The reasoning: it’s none of your business and Nexus has its reasons. As for Orton vs. Barrett, Barrett won and Cena has to explain why he did what he did. Barrett says that he obeyed orders and isn’t fired, yet.

E-Mail comes in and Barrett gets a rematch. There will be a guest referee, chosen by the winner of tonight’s main event which is Orton vs. any member of Nexus. Naturally Cena is picked, as we get Orton vs. Cena AGAIN.

Otunga grabs a mic and says Cena should be fired for not being nice last night. Barrett says they’ll never be able to co-exist, so we’re having a tag title match RIGHT NOW, with Nexus defending against…Nexus? Apparently so.

Tag Titles: John Cena/Wade Barrett vs. Justin Gabriel/Heath Slater

Barrett stops this before it starts, saying that someone has to lay down and do the right thing because this is Nexus vs. Nexus which can’t happen. He says that person is…..David Otunga? David doesn’t like this at all and Barrett has to order him to get in and lay day. He finally does it, making Slater and Gabriel the champions.

So was there ANY POINT to having Otunga/Cena win the belts in the first place? No? Ok just checking.

We recap Ziggler vs. Bryan and Vickie with the GORGEOUS Kaitlyn, smoking in a red dress, introduce Ziggler.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Daniel Bryan

Kaitlyn has some guns on her. After Ziggler’s entrance, here’s….Punk? He’s in a DARE shirt which is a nice touch. He’s limping a bit here and he was rumored to have hurt his back or hip last night. Punk sits down on commentary and says he’s here to scout talent. If he goes after Bryan the IWC will in face, explode. Surfboard by Bryan which I love. That move looks painful as all hell and always has.

Punk makes fun of Shawn Michaels saying he took Bryan’s money and did almost no training with him as William Regal did all the work. Suicide dive has Ziggler reeling and Cole actually praises him. Yeah I’m shocked too. We take a break with Bryan screaming to the crowd. Back and it’s more Daniel in control.

Ziggler begs off ala Ric Flair and eats boots as a result. Ok so he doesn’t actually eat them but they connect with his face. Punk insults Miz as Dolph gets a rollup for two. Sleeper goes on for half a second but Ziggler kicks his HEAD off with a sweet (no pun intended) superkick for two. Punk doesn’t remember Kaitlyn because she’s on NXT. I would say he’s stealing the show but the match is good so it’s hard to say that.

Sleeper goes on again but Bryan counters into the LeBelle Lock. Vickie puts his foot under the rope but he taps anyway. The referee doesn’t see it and just lets it go. Punk says who cares, the dude tapped. He’s right too. Punk gets off headset and we get a staredown kind of. Dolph slips back in but runs away when Bryan sees him coming.

Rating: B+. Another solid match between these two although just slightly below what they did last night. Still though there’s solid chemistry here as they played off of each other much better. Ziggler was on defense most of the match which hurts it a bit, but for the most part this was very high level stuff and rather entertaining as well. Liked it a lot.

Ad for the reading thing WWE is doing. Eight more days. Just eight more days.

The Bellas give Toby Keith a toy belt after he gives them CDs. Santino comes in dressed as a cowboy and sings a song about the girls he’s dated on screen. And here’s Sheamus to get on Santino for losing the match last night. Match tonight of course.

Cena FREAKS at Barrett. Nice thing of him to wait half an hour to do this and just in time for there to be a camera there. Cena rips off the armband and says that this isn’t worth it. Barrett says if Cena beats Orton he’ll make Cena an mutually beneficial offer.

Laycool vs. Melina/Gail Kim

Please make this quick. Cole got an e-mail during the break and the Sheamus vs. Santino match is on. Layla and Melina start. As I type that Michelle comes in and kicks Melina’s head off for the pin.

Register to vote! And don’t wear a WWE T-Shirt. No they really said that.

Miz and Riley come out to complain about losing last night. Miz’s face is extra red here. Miz will be on the cover of the new Smackdown vs. Raw game which is pretty cool actually. He’s on there with Show and Cena but that’s still a pretty big deal. Miz challenges Rey to a match next week….and here comes Eve? What the hell?

Apparently everyone wants to kill him and he’s a flash in the pan. That’s very amusing from EVE TORRES. This is one of the worst arguments I’ve ever seen. Riley gets on her too and easily out talks her. And of course it’s R-Truth. Damn it for the love of crap I do not want to see these two fight even more.

The place is DEAD for Truth’s entrance. Oh and Eve still can’t dance. Truth says Miz is Kermit. Lawler informs us that Kermit is a frog. I hate this segment. E-Mail says ding ding ding. Great. Let’s get this over with.

R-Truth vs. The Miz

This match starts with Truth putting Miz on the floor and we take a break. Damn it they’re giving this match time. Back and this match is just sucking the life out of the place. Miz goes from captain of a team to an R-Truth match? It wasn’t THAT bad. Big boot during the break gives Miz control.

The match isn’t that horrible but at the same time we’ve seen these two fight so many times and none of them have been good, making this just uninteresting. Granted that might be R-Truth who is apparently good because he says he is. Truth gets an over the shoulder stunner for two.

Miz gets knocked to the floor and Eve slaps Riley. Suplex back in by Miz, who somehow got back in first, is countered so Truth takes out Riley. A few finishers and big moves are avoided and the Skull Crushing Finale ends this.

Rating: D+. Like I said it wasn’t bad, but this just could not have been any less interesting if they tried to make the least interesting match ever. Nothing special at all here and while it wasn’t the worst match ever, who cares. Now NEVER LET THEM FIGHT AGAIN.

And here’s Toby Keith to waste our time. He talks about liking being in Green Bay and mentions the game last night. His eyes are closed almost the whole time.

Sheamus vs. Santino Marella

Yep Toby is hammered. He gives Santino, who is scared, some words of encouragement. Morrison comes out as Santino keeps falling down as Sheamus goes for the kick. Morrison pulls Santino out of the way and he gets a rollup win on Sheamus.

Rating: N/A. Morrison vs. Sheamus works fine for me. I’m happy.

New Stand Up For WWE video which is about all these superstars talking about how they wanted to be in wrestling. Everyone wanted to be in WWE. No one ever wanted to be in any other company or anything. Nope, just WWE. Oh and of course these people are all being COMPLETELY legit. No one would ever lie on camera. Nope not at all.

Otunga freaks on Barrett again and threatens to tell the world why they attacked Undertaker last night. Harris and McGillicutty, officially in Nexus now, come in as muscle and more or less say they’ll end Otunga if he talks. Otunga says he’s Nexus.

Taker has a funeral on Friday.

Pee Wee Herman is the guest star next week. Eight more days. Just eight more days.

John Cena vs. Randy Orton

Barrett is out there with him. Orton controls early on and does so as we take the required first break. Back with Cena in a chinlock. FU is blocked by Orton and he stays on offense. Both counter finishers and Orton goes into his clothesline mode. Scoop powerslam has Orton IN THE ZONE BABY!

Barrett tries to get involved but Cena knocks him away. Top rope Fameasser gets two. Basically nothing but counters here but there’s the STF. Barrett pulls the rope away from Orton so Cena comes out to yell at him. Elevated DDT hits Cena on the way back in. FU gets two after another comeback and both men are down.

RKO hits but Cena hits the floor. Orton throws him back in and Orton sets for the punt, as Barrett pulls him out and clotheslines him to give Cena the win and Barrett the referee spot. Orton half kills him and here’s Nexus complete with new members to beat the hell out of Orton. Cena comes in for the save but Barrett has something to say. Naturally Cena is the referee. If Barrett doesn’t get the title, Cena is fired. Oh and if he wins the title, Cena is free.

Rating: C+. Not bad but it was Cena/Orton on free TV so it’s a bit hard to complain. Ok so it isn’t hard to do but it’s a nice perk. I don’t get the point in not announcing this but that’s neither here nor there. The match was their usual big match feel and the ending, while cheap looking on the surface, fits perfectly and fits with the storyline. Of course it’s allegedly awful but whatever. Decent enough match and it worked for its purpose.

Overall Rating: C-. This just didn’t click for me. The wrestling was ok but the angles were rather confusing. Is there a reason they’ll barely say Survivor Series? They kept referencing a PPV but never said the name. This set up the future well enough but there were some head scratching moments here. It wasn’t bad, but it certainly wasn’t all that good either. The ending was solid though as even though it was predictable, it’s the best way to go.

 

[Барбоса]

RAW was pretty good. The only major problem I have is the almost complete sidelining of Orton. Surely he needs to have some mic time to address the Nexus conspiracy against him because for the last month since winning the title he has been silent.

As for Nexus, I love that Harris and Hennig have been added as well as the intrigue regarding Otunga's threat to reveal the reason behind the attack on the Undertaker. In speculating in what it might be, I cannot help but think about HHH being behind it all in order to get rid of Taker for retiring HBK...

As for Cena, I fear that hopes of a much vaunted heel turn and run at the Undertaker's streak might have taken a hit as it would have to happen at Survivor Series which seems too long away from Mania to sustain a heel Cena, unless Vince is sucessful in making him the "biggest heel in wrestling history"

 

[Wade's Public Transit Bomb]

Ok.. A bunch of "real" thoughts about a fake show.

The theme of the night was a lot of fun:

"Woi's own brand of revenge against Cena."

I thought the opening segment was really good. Woi toying with Cena's emotion is something that not a lot of bad guys have done to Cena. He was nice enough to put Cena in a title match, and how did Cena thank him? Well.. Woi technically did win the match. I can really appreciate Woi going "Go eff yourself" as his explanation for plot holes.

I also like that Slater and Gabriel are the tag champs. Not because I want prestige and all that bull, but because I think they are much better off at being the workers of Nexus than Otunga.. By a considerable margin. And let's face it if you are one of those people who demand prestige and stuff: No other tag team is going to get the exposure that Slater and Gabriel are going to get.

I thought the main event was really well done. Woi would try to cheat, but Cena would tell him to go blow himself. I didn't actually like the match between Orton and Cena.. Just seemed too force because they were countering everything. I LOVED the way it ended. It made sense that Woi would give Cena a DQ win. Hopefully they finally put the belt on Woi so Cena can take it from him.

Woi is getting power hungry and we all know that evil dictators never really have happy endings..

I also thought Cena's constant taunting at Woi was like a little boy throwing a fit over a box of cereal at the store and Woi is the dad going "Eh. It happens." I just love those little touches. haha

Daniel vs Bryan.. Eh. It wasn't bad. It just didn't catch my interest.

I thought Toby Keith was a lot of fun. I also enjoyed the Bellas finally dressed differently. Man, I got low standards.

Gail has the best job ever. Gail just has to stand and breathe. The Bellas at least have to remember lines to get dat money yo.

The Miz/Riley/Eve/Truth.. The Miz and Riley were okay. Then Eve came out, which made the segment bad. Then bad became worst when Truth came out. The match was okay, but man..

Sheamus vs Santino was what it was. So, Sheamus is the next in line in trying to make Morrison look good? Ugh.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

The initial numbers for last night's Raw show that the telecast pulled a 3.1 Nielsen Rating, which I think is equal to what the show pulled last week. Raw had stiff competition last night as there were new episodes of Pawn Stars and the History Channel debuted American Renovations, I think that's the name of it, and it's a spin off of Pawn Stars. Pawn Stars always does well in the older male demographic. The Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Giants game on Monday Night Football drew a 13.0 rating with over 18 million viewers. According to prelim reports, that makes it the 4th highest rated cable program in history.

A 3.1 rating for Raw should be somewhere in the neighborhood of about 4.5 million viewers. It's not a fantastic rating, but Raw staying in the 3s right now with a lot of established names no longer on the show and being up against very stiff competition is a little bit of a victory.

EDIT: More details are out and last night's show drew 4.64 million viewers, which is up about 4.5% from last week's show. Considering last night's competition, the WWE has to be pretty pleased with these numbers.

 

[klunderbunker]

Smackdown
Date: October 29, 2010
Location: Bradley Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Commentators: Matt Striker, Michael Cole, Todd Grisham

We begin the road to Survivor Series here where we’ll likely see who is next to challenge Kane now that Taker is shall we say disposed. I’m really not sure what to expect from this but it should at least be interesting and solid as has become the norm for Smackdown. With all that said, let’s get to it.

The show opens talking about Buried Alive with a shot of Taker walking into the darkness before being covered in light and walking behind a curtain. I wonder if Brock is back there.

In the arena now and here are Kane and Paul next to a small gravesite with the Buried Alive tombstone. Kane says Taker is gone and he is gone because of one person: Kane. Well there’s one less Christmas card that Bearer has to buy now. Taker will NEVER return. You got that? NEVER! It’s not like the other three times when he’s been buried alive. This time it’s lasting!

Kane demands that everyone stand up and bow their heads and give him a moment of silence for the man that is now buried alive. Wouldn’t he be dead in theory after like five days underground? Before that can be answered here’s….Alberto? Well that’s not who I would have guessed. Kane looks shocked as well so at least I’m not the only surprised one.

Alberto says this is a tragedy. Not the demise of Undertaker but that he never got a shot at the title. Kane FREAKS on him and Alberto knocks the urn out of Bearer’s hands. Alberto beats Kane down which is a bit of a surprise as well. Rey runs down to the shock of no one and goes for a 619 on Alberto but he gets out of the way. Poor Paul though just happens to be cowering in perfect position for it though. What a coincidence!

It connects this time but Kane kicks Rey down. Edge comes down also and spears Kane down. His music plays so that means the segment is over. I think I smell a pointless triple threat coming for later tonight.

After a break Alberto is freaking out on Teddy in Spanish. After Teddy convinces him to speak English he demands a title shot or at least to be the #1 contender. Hey what do you know I was right about that triple threat match. Teddy feels the need to inform us that it will be a triple threat after saying all three of them will be in it. Thanks for clarifying that boss.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Daniel Bryan

Well you can’t say they don’t stick with something when they find a match that works. Vickie is in a full body leopard print suit complete with tail. Dolph goes straight at him as Cole is actually praising Bryan’s in ring skills but according to Cole he’s a loser. The announcers swooning over Vickie is still odd to hear even though they’ve done it for weeks now.

Cole points out that Halloween is Sunday which is why Vickie is dressed that way. At times I wonder how stupid WWE thinks we are. After a long chinlock by Ziggler Bryan starts using a lot of hand strikes which isn’t something he typically does I don’t believe. We take a break and come back to see it being more even than before we left.

After a missed springboard something by Bryan Ziggler gets a running Fameasser for two. Another solid match for the most part here but a step below their other two. Both guys hit the floor off a suplex attempt by Ziggler. Referee gets to seven and Bryan isn’t up yet. He just barely beats the count but both guys are still down.

They slug it out again and Bryan kicks him into the corner but runs into a boot. Ziggler counters the Lebell Lock into a slingshot and a sleeper but Bryan rams Ziggler into the corner where the referee is standing. Zig Zag gets three with Vickie counting. After Vickie is sent to the floor by the referee, Dolph turns around into a HUGE kick to the head (think Trish’s Chick Kick more or less) for the pin. Sweet shot.

Rating: B. Another great match between these two as they have great chemistry together. I would have liked to see Dolph win once to make this a rubber match but it’s not like he looks bad here. This is a great example of a series where both guys look great and no one really loses face. Solid match and both guys worked very hard to put on great television. Match ran at least 10:00 on screen and there were two commercials so this was likely close to 20:00. I’ll try to post match times as I’ve been requested to do, but watching online makes that a bit tough. I’ll do what I can though.

Knucklehead stuff.

Matthews is in the back and is looking for I assume Bearer as he’s near red lights and finds Paul who says that those three will pay. Paul Bearer in the red light district is disturbing indeed.

Grisham talks about Stand Up For WWE and says the Divas have done it and instead of going to a video about it we cut to the back where Cody and Kelly are in front of a mirror and Cody goes into his usual thing about being attractive. Show comes up for no apparent reason and challenges Cody. He declines saying he’s a tag team wrestler and if Show had a partner he’d definitely take it. Show says he can find a partner and then uses a Scottish accent. Show and Kelly are BFFs according to Show. Kind of a forced segment if that makes sense.

Jack Swagger vs. Kaval

Kaval tries to speed things up to start and tries a Tajiri-esque handspring off the ropes into a cross body but is caught in a slam. Swagger dominates with basic power stuff for the most part and locks in a bear hug. A powerbomb is blocked into a nice rana as the bald one takes over. A half dropkick half enziguri from the top gets two. Kaval channels his inner Rockette and starts kicking like crazy.

Double stomp from the mat instead of the top rope gets two. Kaval jumps over Swagger who hits the floor and Jack rams his knee into the post. A few stomps to the leg sets up the ankle lock and there’s the tap out at 4:04.

Rating: C+. I’m not a Kaval fan and never really have been but he looked good here. Rather than just kicking he was flying around a lot better than he had been. His offense tends to be a bit limited but if they play up his lack of size but show that he has incredible leg strength and kicking power he could be a more successful Tajiri. This was a solid outing from him and no, he’s not being buried.

Divas Halloween Costume Contest up NXT. Oh wait it’s Friday. Up next.

We recap the events that opened the show.

Teddy and Horny are in the ring to host the contest. Bellas are first as Batman and Robin. Striker wants to spend a Dark Knight with them and thinks they can make a Boy Wonder. Alicia is Cleopatra. Kelly is Little Bo Peep. Rosa is a leprechaun. Melina is Spider Woman and looks pretty good in a red suit. Laycool are Lady Gaga and Beyonce which is nothing special.

Michelle grabs a mic and says there’s no point to having the vote as the winners are clearly FLAWLESS. Horny fires his fake guns at them and Michelle dives to the floor. Rather than having a vote we’re going to have an 8 Diva tag match. So what was the point of the contest at all? Was there a contest? Whatever.

Kelly Kelly/Melina/Bella Twins vs. Laycool/Rosa Mendes/Alicia Fox

Layla and Batman start us off as Matt thinks it might be Snooki. That would be borderline gimmick infringement on TNA so we can’t have that. Alicia WAY oversells a headlock takeover as Cole and Striker are making all kinds of comic book jokes with Grisham being completely lost. Grisham says he likes to be in reality. A professional wrestling announcer says he likes to be in reality. That’s just amusing. We take a break.

Back with Kelly and Rosa which is bad to put it mildly. Cole is going to be Kenny Powers for Halloween. A big free for all breaks out as Kelly hits K2 on Rosa to end it at 2:37 shown so about 6:00 total counting the commercial I’d assume.

Rating: N/A. Too short to mean anything or be much of a match but it was appropriate given the time of the year. This was your typical Divas match where it was about them looking sexy and it was ok. Nothing special though but fine for what it was supposed to be.

Rey runs into Edge and the height difference is amazing here as Rey comes up to his shoulder. I know Edge is a big guy but this is insane. I’d believe Edge is standing on a box actually here. Nothing special is said here and I’m pretty sure you can fill in the blanks for yourselves.

Cody Rhodes/Drew McIntyre vs. Big Show/???

Drew says they’re coming for the new champions. Cody says the Chosen One and Dashing Cody Rhodes will now be known as the Dashing Ones. Show has a big yellow wig on for some reason. The partner is Kofi Kingston. Well he could do worse I guess. I have three of the four theme songs here on my iPOD. Kofi is going to be on Ghosthunters apparently next week.

Kofi and Drew start us off as Striker recaps the tag title situation. And now we talk about Nexus as we hit a minute in the match without talking about anything going on in the ring. A minute and twenty seconds in we hear the first thing here as Kofi goes for a cover. I hate commentary like this for something other than something huge. The tag titles certainly don’t fit that description. At least talk about it on Raw.

Show beats up Drew as this has been one sided for the show match. Kofi comes in with a slingshot elbow drop for two. Now we talk about Bragging Rights. What is so wrong with this match that they don’t want to talk about it? Cody comes in and takes a punch from Kofi to the face to tick him off. Kofi throws his hair into Cody’s eyes for two. I’m not sure what to think of that actually.

The heels take over on Kofi and Drew rams his knee into the post which seems to be a mild theme tonight. They work over the knee as we talk about the team name of the former champions rather than the match itself. Cole shaves his legs apparently. Not an image that I wanted in my head. Apparently he gets private lessons from Cody but he insists they’re tapes.

Nice old school tag tease as Cody cuts him off just in time. Hey let’s talk about the wedding on NXT. What is up with the commentary here? I know they’re supposed to advance storylines but this has been ridiculous even for a WWE match. Another tag prevented as this is getting some time. Striker corrects Todd’s English to give us something else to talk about.

Kofi gets a dropkick to send Drew to the floor and there’s your hot tag to Show. He runs over Cody and sets for the Colossal Clutch but Drew makes the save. Said save lasts about 4 seconds as Cody is chokeslammed and pinned after 8:12. I can put up the times for the matches without commercials if that helps. Drew watched the chokeslam happen and did nothing about it.

Rating: C. Basic formula match here but it was ok. Smackdown again continues to allow matches to have some time. This wasn’t a classic or anything but for eight minutes of TV time this was perfectly fine. I’d like to see Kofi get something close to direction though but you can’t have everything I guess.

In the back Cody yells at Drew and the team breaks up. What in the world does Vince have agains tag wrestling?

Alberto Del Rio vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Edge

Winner gets Kane at Survivor Series. I can’t really see anyone but Edge winning this and he’s probably the best choice for this. Very nice reaction for Rey. He’s in a hat though which is odd. Hopefully this doesn’t kill the angle or momentum like Jerry Lawler claims it did to Ultimate Warrior on the Warrior DVD. To semi-quote Riddler from Batman Forever, Rey your entrance was good. His was better.

We take a break for an ad for the Aksana/Goldust wedding which likely won’t end well. Bell rings as soon as we get back and Rey charges at Alberto. Edge, the psychologist, just kind of chills in the corner but takes out Alberto with a spinwheel kick. Rey and Edge do a speed sequence and Rey sends him to the floor. It’s kind of interesting to see how far down people have to lean to get their hands on Rey, especially taller guys like Edge and Alberto. I’ve never realized how small Rey really is.

Big dive by Rey takes both guys down as we take a break. Back from the break and Alberto is working over Rey’s arm. Dropkick to Alberto who is seated in the cormer and here’s Edge again. Rey goes to the floor as we have Edge vs. Alberto for awhile. Alberto drops Edge over the top, allowing Rey to hit a top rope splash for two. Alberto blocks the 619 as Striker questions why he didn’t let it hit which makes sense.

Flapjack gets two for Edge as Rey is down again. The Mexican gets a German on the Canadian for two. Big boot by Edge hits as Rey comes back in. Edge goes up but Alberto gets the armbar on Rey. Lucky for Edge that he’s on top so he can hit an elbow to take Alberto out and break the hold. Sorry about all the play by play here but it’s moving rather fast.

The fans want a spear. I’d recommend asking an old school soldier for that. Triple clothesline and everyone is down. Triple slugout turns into Alberto getting beaten down. And so much for that as he beats both guys fairly easily. Rey takes Edge down as this is getting good. 619 to Alberto but Edge spears Rey off and steals the pin for a LONG two. I thought that was it.

Edgecution puts Alberto down and it’s time for the googly eyes from Edge. The announcer slows him down as Alberto gets the running enziguri for two as Rey saves. He gets both guys in the position for the 619. He picks his fellow Hispanic dude but is countered into an electric chair. Spear takes both guys down and edge pins Alberto for the win at approximately 12:00 shown of about 15:30, assuming three and a half minutes for a commercial break.

Rating: B. I liked this and I’m not a fan of triple threats. They were moving out there and there weren’t long periods of dead time which is usually the biggest flaw in these matches. Edge winning is definitely the right choice for the win here as Alberto is brand new and Rey vs. Kane has been done to death. Edge vs. Kane is relatively fresh and Edge is the biggest face on the show at the moment. This was a solid TV match and it worked very well.

Kane comes out and does his fire thing to end it.

Overall Rating: B+. We got two solid matches and nothing bad at all really. The main event is set up for Survivor Series and a tag team is split up, likely setting up part of the Survivor Series match. Things were solid tonight and we still have a good amount of time to set up the rest of the card. I liked the show as you get the wrestling end here as opposed to the drama on Raw. What more can you ask for? Another good show.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

WWE Friday Night SmackDown! - October 29, 2010

Opening Segment - The show started off strong with Kane’s “funeral” for the Undertaker. Kane is still money in the mic and delivered another great promo and I was legitimately surprised to see Alberto Del Rio come out and interrupt him. Del Rio challenging Kane for the title was unexpected and he got in some shots on Kane before Rey Mysterio comes down and gets into it a bit with Del Rio before catching a boot from Kane. Edge makes a sudden appearance and catches Kane with the Spear. Hot opening segment and the crowd was definitely into what they were seeing. Thumbs Up

Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler - Another great match from these two young guys. Throughout the match, it was pretty much anyone’s game and was very competitive. It started out a little slow but it very quickly picked up. The SmackDown! crowd was as hot for the match as the Raw crowd was. It wasn’t as good as their match at Bragging Rights, but it was still damn good and I’d put it on a similar level to their match on Raw. Bryan & Ziggler have put on 2 great television matches that would make me salivate to see them go at it on a ppv. If I see great wrestling on tv, it only makes me wanna see a ppv all the more. Bryan gets the win a little past the 13 minute mark after nailing Ziggler with a huge roundhouse kick. Ziggler seemingly had Bryan pinned after hitting a Zig Zag but the ref had taken a bump and was out of commission for a bit. Vickie counts to 3 but, of course, it doesn’t count and allows Bryan to recover for the win. Both looked very strong in this match and Ziggler continued to look strong even though he’s lost 3 matches to Bryan in less than a week. I hope this is the last match they have for a while because they don’t need to run it into the ground as they did with Ziggler and Kofi. It would have been nice to see Ziggler actually get the win here, but at least the endings of all of these matches with Bryan have done so with him still being able to look strong. Thumbs Up

Jack Swagger vs. Kaval - This was a fun little match and showed a nice contrast in styles. Kaval continues to look impressive in the ring even though he didn’t score the win here. I’m not really sure what the WWE is waiting for when it comes to Kaval because all the tools are there for a push. He consistently delivers entertaining matches, he can actually talk on the mic if you put one in his hand and the fans are into him. Good back and forth action with Swagger with Swagger getting the win via the ankle lock at the 4 minute mark. The match was basically filler and it was short, but it was definitely quality while it lasted. Thumbs Up

Diva Halloween Costume Contest/Match - I groaned when they talked about this and I figured it was going to be a train wreck of a segment. All the costume contest stuff really didn’t last very long at all, which was a definitely plus. Even though Hornswoggle was out there, he didn’t really do anything stupid or embarrassing. As LayCool & Melina got into it, Teddy Long turned it into a match. Honestly, the match wasn’t bad and all the Divas did look pretty sexy out there in their costumes. There wasn’t anything special about this match, but it honestly wasn’t bad. Kelly Kelly gets the pin on Rosa Mendes at the 6 minute mark. I thought that the possibility of a match would come out of this little costume bit that would last like 30 or 40 seconds but would be preceeded by about 5 or 10 minutes of nauseating promos by the Divas. So, overall, this was surprisingly passable. I can understand if anybody didn’t get much out of this, but the match was decent and nothing stupid happened out there. Thumbs Up

Dashing Cody Rhodes & Drew McIntyre vs. The Big Show & Kofi Kingston - This was a pretty good tag team match, surprisingly good to be honest considering that The Big Show is competing. Thankfully, Kofi Kingston handled most of the in-ring action. McIntyre & Cody actually looked like a cohesive unit and used a lot of classic tag team wrestling tactics and strategy out there such as cutting the ring in half, a lot of quick tags and going to work on a specific body part. The crowd was heavily behind Kofi & Show and the heels got some good heat throughout. Show & Kofi eventually get the win with Show delivering an old school Big Show chokeslam, the kind where he holds the guy suspended in the air for about 5 or 10 seconds before slamming him down, a little past the 8 minute mark. McIntyre leaves Cody Rhodes laying and heads to the back. Fun match and an overall solid showing. Thumbs Up

Edge vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio - This was a damn good triple threat match main event. The winner becomes the #1 contender for Kane’s World Heavyweight Championship. All three competitors looked very strong throughout, it was quite competitive, they worked hard and the crowd was super hot for it. All three of them had a lot of show time during the match and it just worked quite frankly. Del Rio looked especially strong in my opinion, particularly when you take into account he’s only been on SmackDown! for a few months. There was a lot of fun offense from all of them and a fun mesh of styles along with a number of near falls. Edge ultimately gets the win about the 15.5 minute mark after hitting Del Rio with the Spear as Mysterio is purched on Del Rio’s shoulders. I like Del Rio a lot, but I’m glad he’s not getting the shot because I think it’s definitely too soon. Mysterio is always quality in the ring, but I’ve little interest in seeing him in another feud with Kane so the right guy won tonight. Thumbs Up

Overall Show - I thought tonight’s SmackDown! was the strongest the show has been for a while. In my view, it’s definitely the strongest episode since the move to Syfy. It’s a shame that Rhodes & McIntyre seem to have gone their separate ways, the WWE tag team situation is really in shambles now, as this really leaves only 3 active tag teams right now and one of those teams has Santino Marella on it. The stuff with the Divas could have been nauseating but it was actually decent. Not great, but passable. Great wrestling action on the show tonight and I like that The Undertaker didn’t just magically appear. He does appear to be gone for a while and that’s a good thing as it’s time for Kane to move on. Kane was money on the mic and delivered another great promo. Generally speaking, I’ve got no real complaints about tonight’s show.

Grade: A-

 

[Joe's Gonna Kill You]

I thought Smackdown was Very Good tonight. The opening Segment was well done Kane delivered a Very Solid promo. Del Rio came out to challenge Kane for the title then Rey came out then Edge came out setting up a Triple Threat match for #1 contendership. Bryan Vs Ziggler was Another Great TV match and these two work Very well together this was just has the excellent match they had on Raw. Swagger Vs Kaval was a decent match at 4 mins with Swagger picking up the win with the Ankle Lock. Divas Costume contest/Match was your usually divas stuff the match was not that good but it was not awful either. Big Show & Kofi Vs The Dashing Ones this was a good solid tag match. Kofi handled most of the in-ring action. After the match The Dashing Ones seemingly broke up. The Main event was Good and the right person won the match Edge.

Rating:B+

 

[TJ Matics]

Gold Star for Tonight’s WWE Smackdown!
-For the most part I was feeling my brother in since he hadn't watched wrestling in forever, So I didn't really get to sit down and just watch all the way through, But what did stick out was:

Opening Segment
-The show opened with Kane and Paul,
Where I let my brother in on how awesome his promos had been,
Regular stuff here,
But the reason this really stuck out to me were for 2 reasons:
1. Alberto Knocked the Urn out of Paul’s hand
-Holy Shit
2. Kane Freaking Out on Alberto
-If you didn't find Kane rolling his neck like a member of The Bad Girls Club funny,
Then I'm not sure what can possibly amuse you

-Again,
I know there were probably some really awesome matches and segments,
But I was only half watching

 

[HBKevin]

The triple threat main event was outstanding. Edge continues to impress and hung in there step for step in a lucha-style match, despite his severe Achilles tendon injury and nagging limp. Edge is more over right now than he's been in a long time, and I hope he gets the world title once more.

 

[The Doctor]

Outside of the comedy, RAW was very formula tonight. The Dibiase/Bryan match was entertaining, but really outside of that there wasn't a ton to write home about. Not that that's a bad thing; the segments pushed stories that needed to be pushed, and that's all you need sometimes.

But enough of that - on with the comedy. The comedy was absolutely hilarious tonight! Santino trying to pay off Sheamus was great, as was Kozlov's declaration: "Sheamus, you talk funny. I MUST BREAK YOU!".

I was rolling throughout the second Pee Wee Herman skit, and I never even watched that show when I was a kid! Herman was very comfortable in the ring doing his old shtick and it was just awesome. Miz interrupting and Riley being Pee Wee's biggest fan just made it even funnier. I literally had tears in my eyes at the Secret Word part. And I lost it when Big Show came out in a Pee Wee suit. One of the funniest RAW segments in a while, and definitely one of the best guest star segments in the history of the concept.

Now, the political ad...when it first started I was confused. Then, I want to bury my face in my hands. And then something happened, and it became very, very funny. It was stupid in a good way, and Vince's performance was very amusing. The part at the end, with Stephanie (looking fantastic) waking up and asking an offscreen Triple H about Vince's coma, and them actually having Triple H speak without showing him, made me laugh hard. I love sly little shoutouts like that.

Heck, even the commentary was great. Cole was just hamming it up and being a total tool, and it was perfect.

Overall, I'd probably give this RAW a B. Without the comedy, it would have been a solid C as it was an average show, but the comedy was good enough to bump it up.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

WWE Monday Night Raw - November 1, 2010

Opening Segment - Raw's opening stuff with Orton, Cena & Barrett was pretty good. Nothing particularly great, but a solid segment overall. Cena wasn't in his SuperCena frame of mind tonight and I like that the WWE hasn't tried to make him and Orton friends. There's too much history to ignore in an attempt to do that and I'm glad WWE realizes that. The segment set up the main event for the night and it was able to sell the tension between the three parties pretty well. Not great, but solid. Thumbs Up

Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel vs. The Hart Dynasty - This was a short match but it was solid. All four wrestlers were given a little time to showcase themselves and did a good job with the time they got. Tyson Kidd continues to look impressive, and really all four guys looked good. The outcome was never in doubt and Gabriel scores the win at the 4 minute mark with the 450 splash. It's hard to be excited about the tag team scene in the WWE at this point, but this was a solid little match. Thumbs Up

Sheamus, Santino Marella, Vladimir Koslov & John Morrison - I liked this segment as everything that needed to happen, given the events of last week, did happen. Sheamus called out Santino and Santino came and made an excuse for why he couldn't wrestle. He gave a few funny lines and had Koslov go up against Sheamus. The match wasn't great or anything, but it was what I expected. Sheamus got the win in 2 minutes and Sheamus managed to get some revenge for Santino's fluke win last week. As he walks up the ramp, Santino tries to buy him off with candy and money but gets a kick in the gut. As he's going for the Celtic Cross off the stage, Morrison comes down and kicks Sheamus off the stage area. So it looks like the Sheamus/Morrison program is going forward and I do hope that Santino won't be a factor. Thumbs Up

Randy Orton & R-Truth - This was an interesting little backstage segment with Orton & Truth. Truth informs Orton on what he believes Cena's intentions are and is asked by Orton to be his partner for the tag match later. Truth keeps popping up in the picture from time to time and I'm wondering if they're gonna turn him, if he'll somehow be used to facilitate a Cena heel turn, if he's just there as background or what. It could be an interesting development, depending on which way the WWE goes with this. Like the rest of the night, nothing spectacular, but solid. Thumbs Up

Pee-Wee Herman Backstage - I just wasn't feeling this segment. It wasn't as bad as I'd thought it would be, but it just screamed corny and it didn't really work for me here. Mark Henry came across looking like an idiot, the whole thing with the Divas playing twister would be appealing if they were in lingere or bikinis. Lita's cameo was a nice little surprise, she still looks great. I just wasn't feeling this. Thumbs Down

Ezekiel Jackson vs. Zack Ryder - This was little more than a 2 minute squash for Jackson. Big Zeke does look quite intimidating and that's generally what this match was set up to do. It's too bad that Zack Ryder is getting buried the way he's been. The guy's got talent and ability. I'm really not a fan of squash matches, sometimes they do have a purpose but, more often than not, they just tend to annoy me. Thumbs Down

Pee-Wee Herman, The Miz, Alex Riley & The Big Show - I dreaded this and wasn't looking forward to it at all. But, to be completely honest, I kinda liked it. I don't know if it was how comfortable Paul Rubens was in his character. I thought the audience would eat this guy a live or just be completely flat here, but they just seemed to embrace it. I would have preferred if Pee-Wee hadn't been on the show, but his schtick here with The Miz & Riley was acutally pretty good. It seemed childish & juvenile in some way, but it just clicked with me a little and actually made me laugh a few times. The Big Show coming out dressed as Pee-Wee I could've done without and the dance he and Pee-Wee did. I'm sure some people probably hated this and I can't fault them but I honestly didn't think that this was bad. It wasn't spectacular, but it was kinda fun. Thumbs Up

The Miz vs. The Big Show - This was actually a pretty good match I thought. Show is pretty limited given his size, but The Miz managed to actually have a pretty enjoyable match against him. I'm glad that it wasn't some 2 minute squash with Riley coming in to save Miz from getting his ass handed to him. The Miz hit some pretty decent offense on Show, getting him off his feet several times during the match. Show does win via DQ when Miz uses the briefcase on him and leaves him lying in the ring. Show technically won the match, but The Miz came out on the better end of this exchange. Thumbs Up

Daniel Bryan vs. Ted DiBiase - Pretty good match from Bryan & DiBiase. It wasn't some all time classic but they worked a good 4 to 5 minute match with both guys ultimately getting in roughly the same amount of offense. DiBiase seemed to be more aggressive in this match than I've seen him in a while that the crowd was very much behind Daniel Bryan with "Daniel Bryan" chants going on practically throughout the match. Bryan gets the win via the LaBelle Lock. I'm not sure what's really next for Bryan as CM Punk is gonna be out of in-ring action the rest of the year. But, at least Bryan is getting television time on Raw each week. Thumbs Up

Natalya vs. Michelle McCool - Surprisingly, these two actually had a pretty good match. Natalya is quite good inside the ring and say what you want about Michelle McCool, but she is too. What surprised me is that they actually let them have a match on Raw instead of the usual 60 second bullshit that we usually are treated to on Monday nights with the Divas. Pretty good little back and forth match with Natalya & Michelle showing some fun and impressive moves. The part where Layla got kicked in the face accidentally and "crying" about it made me chuckle a little. Natalya beats Michelle in about 4 minutes via a school boy roll up. Thumbs Up

McMahon Video - This was awful I thought and I honestly don't know what the purpose of it was. Vince pretending to be in a coma with a famous actor, Freddie Prinze, Jr., playing his doctor. This was pretty close to being as bad as I thought all the Pee-Wee Herman stuff was going to be. It had Vince McMahon's love of corny humor in it for all to see and it just didn't click with this viewer. Thumbs Down

Randy Orton & R-Truth vs. Wade Barrett & David Otunga - Pretty good tag team main event here, though nothing really to write home about. The match did tell the story well and continue the overall hype towards the Survivor Series WWE Championship match and what Cena's gonna do. Cena was a straight laced ref in this match and did call it right down the middle. There were a few tense moments, as expected, with Cena seperating people and not allowing others to come into the match after they'd been tagged if he hadn't seen the tag. Orton & Truth get the win at the 9 minute mark as Cena is getting Wade Barrett out of the ring. Orton sneaks in and hits Otunga with the RKO, allowing R-Truth to get the pin. Thumbs Up

Overall Show - Generally speaking, I thought the overall show was basically pretty solid. There really wasn't anything great that took place on the show and I thought that there was too much comedy and silliness going around. The stuff with Pee-Wee Herman overall was actually pretty decent, it wasn't nearly the train wreck I was expecting when I first learned a while back that he would be the guest star. As far as wrestling content goes, again it was all pretty much just solid. Nothing to write home about but still I think the weakest I've seen on Raw in a while. The video with McMahon in a coma and all that was extremely corny and just did nothing for me. Tonight's show seemed more about comedy rather than seriously hyping Survivor Series. While most of what we saw was pretty solid I thought, it was also pretty lackluster at the same time. Pee-Wee Herman is the last guest host scheduled, so I'm hoping that Raw gets back to more serious business next week with pushing Survivor Series and having much stronger promo and wrestling content.

Grade: C

 

[Raven1788]

I don't know about anyone else but the backstage Segments on tonights raw had me in rolling around laughing my ass for the first time in quite some time. Between Vince magically coming out of a coma to the words 50 million dollars to Freddie Prinz Junior playing his own well quite well to the best part of making it all seem to be a dream from Stephanie McMahon. The only way I think it could have been done better is if they had used Lita for this segment rather then the whole 2 second "hey how ya doing" they gave her during the Pee Wee Herman sgement. How is it whenever Trish comes back its the biggest deal ever but when Lita comes back we get nothing? Comment Discuss Flame me for enjoying something the poo flinging monkeys WWE calls writers came up with go nuts.

 

[klunderbunker]

Monday Night Raw
Date: November 1, 2010
Location: Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Long Island, New York
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler
Guest Star: Pee Wee Herman

Orton comes out and says there is no one that can beat him for the title. He calls out Cena, saying if he’s going to get screwed he wants to see the guy who is going to do it face to face. Here’s Cena, who says that he doesn’t want to have to do anything wrong. Orton says that if Cena screws him over then he disrespects all champions including himself. Orton throws Cena out but says he can’t do that because Cena needs permission to do anything.

Cena says Barrett and Nexus runs Raw and he might be good enough to compete for the title. Here’s Nexus with Barrett saying Cena will do what he says. Cena says this ends at Survivor Series and if he goes out he goes out with a bang. Orton challenges Barrett for right now but we get an e-mail. Orton vs. Barrett with partners of their choosing in a tag match with Cena as the referee. Nothing that special there.

Tag Titles: Hart Dynasty vs. Justin Gabriel/Heath Slater

Don’t think the titles are on the line here. Kidd and Slater start us off. King talks about David Otunga for some reason but whatever. The Dynasty continue having issues as you can see by their tag which isn’t nice to say the least. Delayed vertical suplex on Slater for two. The champions beat down Smith as Kidd just kind of glares at him.

Kidd comes in and beats down Gabriel, which is an interesting sounding match. A Moss Covered Three Handled Family Credenza puts down Gabriel for two as Slater saves. Slater shoves Smith and Kidd hits him with a tope con hilo, allowing Gabriel to put Kidd down for the 450 to end it. Apparently this was a title match.

Rating: C-. Not bad but it was decent enough. The Harts having issues here didn’t feel as forced as it has before which is always a good thing. This wasn’t horrible but at the same time it just kind of came and went. I hope it’s not as predictable as it seems it will be but that’s where it looks like it’s pointing to. Not bad though.

Truth comes in and says something to Cena about being proud of him but Cena leaves. I didn’t get it.

Edge vs. Alberto on Friday.

After a break here’s Sheamus. He says he’s not going to throw a fit over Santino beating him last week because he beat himself. He calls out Santino to try it again and here’s the Russian. Uh the Canadian. Wait he’s an Italian here. He says he went out as Sheamus for Halloween but everyone thought he was a ghost. Apparently he’s eaten a lot of candy and might get sick on Sheamus. He has a replacement though.

Sheamus vs. Vladimir Kozlov

Kozlov says Sheamus talks funny. I think they’re trying to make him all menacing like he used to be but it’s not really working. This is kind of an ugly match. Kozlov gets some trap headbutts and a big boot for two. Brogue Kick ends it in like 90 seconds. Pretty bad but not long enough to rate.

Post match Santino tries to run in and take down Sheamus and you can guess how well that goes. He tries to buy Sheamus off with cash credit and check but he gets caught. He sets for the High Cross on the stage and cue Morrison for the save. Good thing he was in jeans and all ready to fight like that.

Truth comes up to Orton and thinks Cena has already made up his mind. Orton makes him his partner for later.

Back from a break and Henry is on the phone….to Pee Wee Herman who is right behind him. Henry needs a new partner and he says Herman is his idol. Somehow this evolves into a game of Diva Twister. I hate my life but the Bellas look good. Herman says he’s taking over Raw and HOLY SHIT LITA IS HERE! WOW. She still looks good.

Zack Ryder vs. Ezekiel Jackson

My mind is still blown and this is after a break. Yep it’s over in 20 seconds with the release Rock Bottom.

Barrett has picked Otunga as his partner.

Herman comes out to do the secret word thing from his show and it’s Ring. Miz comes out and runs down Pee Wee. Riley is a fan apparently but Miz prefers He-Man. Naturally it turns into a comedy segment where he says ring over and over, resulting in him getting screamed at. Herman does more jokes and says his cousin is here. And it’s Big Show, in a Pee Wee suit.

He comes out and shoves the two evildoers out of the ring but we get an E-Mail. The obvious match is made.

The Miz vs. Big Show

We start after a break and apparently Show had his wrestling gear on under the suit. Naturally this is more or less total dominance from Show but Miz gets some shots in. Show misses a Vader Bomb and Miz takes over. Miz hits three top rope double axe handles to get Show down but gets launched out of a cover. Show starts his comeback so Riley throws in the case for the DQ.

Rating: D+. Pretty worthless match here that went by pretty quickly and never really got going. The DQ helps as Miz doesn’t need to lose here. I love how there’s no point to having the Brand Split half the time when everyone comes in and goes on whatever show they want to. Pretty worthless match though.

More Stand Up For WWE stuff with all the former guest hosts talking about how awesome it was and how they’re a FAMILY. Odds on Vince knowing half of their names now?

Barrett tells Cena to clean his dressing room and then that he’s going to scrub Barrett’s back. Otunga says no Cena won’t because Otunga’s hand is getting raised. Wouldn’t both be raised if they win? Otunga says he’s more talented than anyone in Nexus including Cena.

Ad for the wedding tomorrow.

Ted DiBiase vs. Daniel Bryan

Maryse is in a red dress and DAMN. DiBiase dominates early on as you can see the tap out coming. King thinks Goldust is a cradle robber sending Cole into a frenzy. Faster pace match than you would expect here. Sitout spinebuster by DiBiase for two. And so much for that as Dream Stree is countered into the LeBell Lock.

Rating: C-. Not bad but really just kind of filler for the most part. Maryse’s hotness was the main appeal here which is usually the case in DiBiase matches. This was really just a filler match to set up the whole wedding angle for tomorrow of course. Also it gives Bryan another win which is a good thing for him. Not bad but just kind of meaningless.

DiBiase yells that he can’t focus and needs the title back so they’re crashing the wedding tomorrow.

Here’s Laycool who say they’ve gotten off on the wrong foot with everyone. They make fun of Natalya as this feud is like a bad fungus. I think you get the idea here.

Natalya vs. Michelle McCool

If Natalya wins she gets another shot. This feud will not die. Nice wheelbarrow suplex on Michelle as she wants time out. There’s some very loud man shouting at Layla and he’s getting on my nerves. Natalya sends Layla into Michelle on the floor and rolls up the blonde for the pin, extending this feud. Nothing all that special here and rather short.

Vince is in a hospital and coma apparently and will miss the election. I give up. Oh and Freddie Prinze Jr. is the doctor.

Back from a break we see Vince again and the doctor mentions Linda spending 50 million dollars on the campaign. Naturally this wakes him up and he’s wearing a bunch of Linda stickers on his gown. He says as long as everything is ok with WWE all is ok. The “doctor” updates Vince on the major events in WWE and Vince is a bit taken aback. He says if Linda can run for Senate he can run for President. I give up.

And apparently it’s a dream as Stephanie wakes up next to HHH (not on camera) and says it was all a dream as Vince is still brain dead in a coma. So we can film her mind now?

Cena comes out to be referee as we take our final break.

Wade Barrett/David Otunga vs. R-Truth/Randy Orton

Truth throws in a few What’s ups to make people actually care about his song. Orton vs. Otunga to start. Basic stuff so far with Cena being the very by the book referee. Total main event tag match here with absolutely nothing special about it. The focus is on Cena of course as we wonder if he’s doing anything nefarious or if everything is just fine with him.

Truth and Otunga in there as I have had nothing to say for about five minutes now. Cena plays everything fair. RKO to Otunga out of nowhere and Truth gets the pin. Well at least it’s over I guess. Total nothing match.

Rating: D+. Boring match here as the LD died as well with no one caring. This wasn’t much at all and the whole thing was supposed to be a fucked up preview for the main event of the PPV but it didn’t come off as that at all. It came off as uninteresting on all levels. What was with R-Truth in the main event too? Just a weak main event and nothing I could get into at all.

Overall Rating: C. This was a different kind of Raw but it still worked I think. The show was more of a transitional one this time which is ok once in awhile. Obviously the main focus was on Orton/Cena/Barrett but they’re the top guys and it’s very refreshing to see a new spin on the main event side of things.

The comedy was decent but I think there was a bit much of it for my tastes. Still though having seven matches is solid, especially considering they all addressed individual angles. This was a well put together show on paper, but the execution didn’t exactly come off perfectly. Still though, definitely not bad at all if a bit boring at times.

 

[Yrrab]

I thought they were pretty awesome myself. Seeing V-Mac on my TV screen made me feel all warm inside. At first I couldn't even recognize Stephanie, but once I did I almost pissed myself. The segments were awesome.

I hope this is the start of more to come with Lita; I think she could bring a lot to the womens division this very moment. All they have is Laycool, and they need more than two loudmouth bitches to carry it.

 

[zaculeh]

uhh the opening segment was great because the dialogue between cena and orton was very believable..

it was good to see vince n steph back with triple h in the background

HOWEVER that being said

it also had one of the worst segments of the year with PEE WEE HERMAN probably the worst of guest hosts followed by the brady bunch lady and all the others .. in fact the only awesome guest hosts were rob zombie and maybe that black guy (basketball player i think)

 

[destroyman]

uhh the opening segment was great because the dialogue between cena and orton was very believable..

it was good to see vince n steph back with triple h in the background

HOWEVER that being said

it also had one of the worst segments of the year with PEE WEE HERMAN probably the worst of guest hosts followed by the brady bunch lady and all the others .. in fact the only awesome guest hosts were rob zombie and maybe that black guy (basketball player i think)

Wait, you thought Rob Zombie was one of the awesome guests host? The same Rob Zombie who other than argue with Edge on the triton for a few seconds, just named who was going to be on the Raw Money in the Bank then completely disappeared?

 

[zaculeh]

yeah better him do that than go on a useless rant like pee wee herman and that lady from the brady bunch.. thats all a guest host should do .. they shouldnt even have guest hosts on raw.. they need to use tv time to put more people over rather than waste it.. oh and on top of that rob zombie hass good music which is why i liked him over other lame guest hosts

 

[Mustang Sally]

Between Vince magically coming out of a coma...

I was really hoping Vince wouldn't make his return until Survivor Series. I figured Orton would retain his title and Barrett would say:

"You're fired, Cena.".....................only to have Vince show up to say:

"No, he isn't."

Of course, you could argue that the whole program would be ending in a very un-Cena like fashion, since it would essentially involve having Cena exchanging being controlled by one person (Barrett) for another (Vince).

Yes, Vince could still intercede at Survivor Series, but since we've already seen that he's back, it wouldn't be quite as effective.